The present invention relates to control panel assemblies for appliances. More particularly it relates to an improved control panel assembly which provides many of the advantages of capacitive touch or similar switches while using mechanical push button switches.
The advent of electronic controls has resulted in many improvements in appliances, including improvements in the control panels for appliances. "Electronic switches", such as capacitive touch or similar switches or contacts, can be used with such controls. They enable the manufacturer to use a smooth, uninterrupted cover on the control panel. This is visually pleasing and enhances the cleanability of the panel. However, it has several disadvantages. One disadvantage is that such switches are significantly more costly than the well known mechanical push button switches which have been used in appliance controls for many years. Also most manufacturers have a number of different models in each line of appliances and many of the individual models do not include electronic controls. The use of electronic switches with some models and mechanical switches with other models causes unwanted differences in the appearance between different models and requires the added expense of simultaneously using two significantly different control panel assemblies.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved control panel assembly for appliances.
It is another object of this invention to provide such an improved assembly in which touch pads integral with the cover are used to actuate the push buttons of mechanical switches.